The human eye functions to provide vision by transmitting light through a clear outer portion called the cornea, and focusing the image by way of a crystalline lens onto a retina. The quality of the focused image depends on many factors including the size and shape of the eye, and the transparency of the cornea and the lens. When age or disease causes the lens to become less transparent, vision deteriorates because of the diminished light which can be transmitted to the retina. This deficiency in the lens of the eye is medically known as a cataract. An accepted treatment for this condition is surgical removal of the eye's natural lens and replacement of the lens function by an artificial intraocular lens (IOL).
In the United States, the majority of cataractous lenses are removed by a surgical technique called phacoemulsification. During this procedure, an opening is made in the anterior capsule and a thin phacoemulsification cutting tip is inserted into the diseased lens and vibrated ultrasonically. The vibrating cutting tip liquefies or emulsifies the lens so that the lens may be aspirated out of the eye. The diseased lens, once removed, is replaced by an artificial IOL.
An IOL injector device injects the artificial IOL into the eye through the same small incision used to remove the diseased lens. The IOL injector device typically includes a tubular housing with an injector rod disposed therein and a lens cartridge that contains the artificial IOL. With the tip of the lens cartridge inserted into the incision, the IOL injector device physically translates the injector rod toward the lens cartridge, thereby displacing the artificial IOL from the lens cartridge and into the eye.
During surgery, substances often accumulate on the internal components of the IOL injector device, including for example the injector rod. For instance, viscoelastic substances (e.g., Ophthalmic Viscoelastic Devices, OVD), which have both high viscosity and elasticity, are widely utilized in cataract surgery to create and reserve space for, or to coat, the artificial IOL. Accordingly, when the injector rod displaces the artificial IOL from the lens cartridge, viscoelastic substances unavoidably accumulate on the surface of the rod. If the injector rod is not re-processed (i.e., cleaned) to remove the accumulated viscoelastic substances, the substances can contaminate and introduce complications to subsequent patients undergoing cataract surgery with the same device.